Low-cut-shoe attachment.



W. E. BUNKER. .LOW GUT SHOE ATTACHMENT. APPLIOATION FILED JULY 21,1913.

1,079,835. Patented Now 25,1913.

INVENTOR WZZZZJ' Z]. fizvzka" ATTORNEYS COLUMBIA PLANdnRAPl-lCO.,WASHINGTON, D. c

WALTER EMERY BUNKER, OF NATICK, MASSACHUSETTS.

LOW-CUT-SI-IOE ATTACHMENT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 25, 1913.

Applicat'i'on'filed July 21, 1913. Serial No. 780,207.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER E. BUNKEI a citizen of the United States, anda reeldent of Natick, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented a new and Improved Low-Cut-Shoe Attachment,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to pumps or lowcut shoes, and it is a design of theinvention to provide an attachment to prevent the shoe from spreading orgaping in the movements of walking.

It is also a design of the invention to provide a stiffener to serve theindicated purpose, applicable to the vamp of a shoe and extendingrearwardly around the shoe opening toward the back, but leaving thecurved back portion of the upper unstiifened and in normal condition,whereby the provision of the stiffener will not result in discomfort atthe back of the heel of the wearer.

The invention furthermore has for its design to provide a stiifenerattachment that may be readily applied to any low-cut shoe.

The invention will be more particularly explained in the specificdescription followlng.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a shoe having my improved attachmentapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan view of a separate vamp; provided withthe attachment; Fig. 3 is a plan view of the stiffener; and Fig. 4 is adetail cross section on the line 4-4: of Fig. 1.

My improved device is formed preferably of a single length of stifiwire, and advantageously of piano wire. It comprises two arms 10 unitedat one end. When produced from a single length of wire the latter willbe formed into a twist, as at 11, at the juncture of the arms 10, theouter end of the twisted portion being formed into an eye 12. The armsare spaced apart and curved to approximate the shape of the shoe at thesides and forward end of the opening.

To secure the device to the shoe, a leather strip 13, or the inner layeror lining of the shoe is. so stitched, as at 13*, to the upper astoprovide a pocket extending from the front of the opening at each siderearwardly, the strip or other lining element thus forming a coveringfor the attachment at the inside of the shoe. As an additional fasteningmeans a staple or rivet 14 is caused to pass through the eye 12 andthrough the vamp, the staple being covered in practice by the usual bow15. The extreme ends of the arms 10 are returned on themselves, as at16, whereby no sharp ends will be presented to puncture the upper or thecovering 18. As seen in Fig. 4, the covering strip 13 is preferablyskived at the top and bottom edges to produce a smooth finish. I makethe arms 10 of a length so that their free ends will terminate short ofthe back of the shoe, thereby leaving the curved back part of the upperand counter in a normal condition, so that there will be no stiffenerelements presented at this por tion which would result in discomfort.

It will be apparent that the resilient arms 10 when applied to the shoe,will tend to resist the separation of the shoe at the sides of theopening without exerting undue pressure on the wearer.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent:

A low-cut shoe having a stiffener attachment applied thereto at thefoot-receiving opening, said stiifener comprising two resilient armsintegral with each other and formed in a single length of wire, saidarms being twisted together at their juncture to form an eye, the armsextending rearwardly at the opposite sides of the footreceiving openingand terminating short of the rear end of said opening, a coveringoverlying the stiffener and forming a pocket for the stiffener, and afastener extending through the eye of the stifi'ener and securing thesame to the vamp of the shoe.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

WALTER EMERY BUNKER.

Witnesses:

CORNELIUS P. MCKEOWN, HARRY M. FERGUSON.

Copies of this patent mav be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0.

